Effects of blade configuration on flow distribution and power output of a zephyr vertical axis wind turbine.

Abstract

Worldwide interest in renewable energy systems has increased dramatically, due to environmental concerns like climate change and other factors. Wind power is a major source of sustainable energy, and can be harvested using both horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. This thesis presents studies of a vertical axis wind turbine performance for applications in urban areas. Numerical simulations with FLUENT software are presented to predict the fluid flow through a novel Zephyr vertical axis wind turbine(VAWT). Simulations of air flow through the turbine rotor were performed to analyze the performance characteristics of the device. Major blade geometries were examined. A multiple reference frame (MRF) model capability of FLUENT was used to express the dimensionless form of power output of the wind turbine as a function of the wind freestream velocity and the rotor's rotational speed. The simulation results exhibit close agreement with a stream-tube momentum model.